Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The energy uptown was palpable yesterday as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and ESPN came to Charlotte for "Monday Night Football."

Some of that energy was, of course, generated by the buzz building up to the pivotal game, but did anyone notice how bright the uptown sky was? The buildings were encouraged to keep all of their lights on for the national broadcast as Charlotte enjoyed its moment in the spotlight. (I'd love to see the Bank of America building's overnight electric bill. No wonder we're in an energy crisis.)

Fans started tailgating hours before kickoff at Bank of America Stadium, and for those who couldn't take a half-day from work, their frustrations and excitement were documented hourly on Facebook. (I'd also love to see the productivity rate at Charlotte businesses yesterday. I'm guessing it's about the same as it is during March Madness.)

But while banks, law firms, (newspapers) and other businesses experienced a drop in productivity yesterday, the hospitality sector saw a boon: Charlotte Center City Partners predicted the game generated up to $8 million in extra revenue to area bars, restaurants and hotels.

I stopped in to WFNZ's Dog House before the game to check out early revelers. For those of you new to Charlotte, the Dog House sits in the shadow of the stadium at Mint and Morehead streets. It's open only on game days when the WFNZ on-air team broadcasts from the bar and fans use it as a tailgating/meeting/game-watching spot.

Inside, fans dressed in Panthers garb munched on peanuts and loaded up on beer while listening to the radio show. Out back, a live band played while folks from Sagebrush served up steaming hot BBQ.

It was nice to see everyone just out having a good time and not sitting at home listening to news reports about the flagging economy.

The Dog House opens two hours before every home game (last one's next Sunday when the Panthers host the Broncos) and stays open as late as two hours after the game ends.

The Dog House CONSTANTLY violates the fire code and they serve beer to those who are OBVIOUSLY intoxicated. There are better pre-game venues than The Doghouse. Besides the airstaff and folks working The Doghouse are arrogant especially the skinny stringy hiar girl working parking.

Monday? You cant party 7 days a week or you will burn out. Save up. Thats why you have Las Vegas going 24/7/365 but nobody can take Vegas for more than a week unless you work there. Charlotte is a far cry and rolls up the streets half the days of the week but thats ok. Take a vacation to Vegas. People need to stay home a few nites a week to keep the world populated making babies. Thats much more fun.

Did anyone else notice the seemingly huge influx of criminal element that flooded uptown Monday? In corners it was exciting, in the vast majority of uptown there was a seriously sketchball vibe of thugs, hillbillies and others who came out to cause trouble. It's lucky the Panthers won I could have seen a lot of bad things going down after the game. Living uptown I often get bored there with the lack of things going on, and while it was sort of exciting Monday, the crowd was also very troubling.

Sarah Aarthun is the Observer's pop culture writer. When she's not devouring Entertainment Weekly or writing about local and national celebrities for The 'A' List in the Observer, she can be found at hot spots around town.